G'day

At the moment the 120 will be going into a box. It had been sitting for some time. Its previous owner was our club president but sadly about 6 months ago he died suddenly and unexpectedly. He had a VAST collection of planes, engines and other stuff and the club has been selling it off for his wife. The AX120 was the last engine to go. It looks like it has had little use though it has had some. It came with an original OS muffler and also a Pitts type mufffler which I noticed has been repaired with TIG welding. The motor looks perfect. I even had a look inside and things look fine there. I do have a Sig 1/4 scale Extra which I bought in a fit of madness. I think the 120 might end up in it but not for some time.

People mostly overpower models. If a 40 is called for, it gets a 46 or 55. It is a natural human reaction to think that if enough is enough then more must be better. Why use 10% nitro when you can get 15 or 30? The models I have which fly best are not the overpowered ones. I have a little 80% AstroHog which has a Saito 40 in it. It is an almost perfect plane to fly. It won't hover and it won't win any races but as a model to fly, it always puts a smile on the flier's face. I also have a Sig Four Star 120 with a Saito 150 in it. It is nice to fly but no better than the little Hog.

We flew my LT-25 with a series of engines. We started with the ASP 30 and it was perfect but then after one of its many crashes we put a Leo 46 in it (no nitro). It did fly faster but it did not fly better and spend most of the time at about 1/3 throttle. We also tried an LA 46 (just because we could) and it was similar to the Leo though slightly less powerful. I also have an LT-40 which originally had a Saito 56. It was perfect for the plane. Later I needed the engine for something else and I pulled the Saito out and put a Saito 72 in. It was madly overpowered and not very nice to fly as a result. Heavier too. It was faster, it took off more quickly but as a plane to fly, it was a bit of a handful compared to when it had had the 56.

Keep having fun and reporting your progress.

Cheers

Mike in Oz